Samsung walks away from SanDisk deal

Korean firm withdraws offer to buy US memory experts

The long-running saga of Samsung's attempt to buy SanDisk appears to be over after Samsung publicly walked away from the table, claiming it is no longer interested.

The news came in a letter to SanDisk from Samsung's CEO, Lee Yoon-Woo, citing the shift in power within the SanDisk-Toshiba joint venture we reported on at the weekend and larger financial concerns.

Unwelcome surprises

Lee wrote: "Your surprise announcements of a quarter billion dollar operating loss, a hurried renegotiation of your relationship with Toshiba and major job losses across your organisation all point to a considerable increase in your risk profile and a material deterioration in value."

He also added that he had been dissatisfied with progress during the six-month-long process, but SanDisk retorted by saying that the Koreans had been unresponsive.

Shares down

SanDisk's shares closed in the US yesterday at under $15 (£8.80) – considerably below the $26 (£15.20) a share Samsung had offered in September.